RE: FLASH: A fervent plea for an Actionscript book

[Dorian Nisinson]

Tom,

	When the Flash 5 Bible comes out, I have an article in it with line by line

discussion of the actionScript involved in a modest Flash gamelet. The

concept was to explain why every piece of punctuation and every variable was

put where it was. I'm not sure of the release date but I will let you all

know when it comes out.


Dorian



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dorian Nisinson Design

http://www.nisinson.com

doriannisinson [dot] com (mailto:doriannisinson [dot] com)

Flash Motion Graphics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



-----Original Message-----

From:

ownerchinwag [dot] com

 [

ownerchinwag [dot] com]On">mailto:ownerchinwag [dot] com]On

 Behalf Of Tom Green

Sent: Monday, November 13, 2000 7:16 PM

To:

flasherchinwag [dot] com

Subject: FLASH: A fervent plea for an Actionscript book



Having just published a Director book- Director 8 & Lingo Fast & Easy Web

Development for PrimaTech- I know how the writing thing goes and I think I

can

speak with a little more authority than in the past.


Does anyone know if there is a publisher or writer out there who is working

on

an Actionscript 101 book?


Don't point at Flash Magic as a good example. It isn't. As I have pointed

out

on this list before, there is a lot of great technique and some really

useful

tools but it really is nothing more than a glorified typing tutorial when it

comes to writing the code. Variables fly in from who knows where. The code

is

cleanly laid out in the book but the authors don't explain what it all

means.

Simply type in the code presented and you have a working calculator. May

what

ever gods there are have mercy on the souls of those who enter a typo and

wind

up with an error message. There is no explanation of how to fix things let

alone where the variables are located, how they came to be and a clear,l

ucid

English language explanation of the code.


What I can't seem to grasp is how publishers are falling all over themselves

to

get Flash books to market - Flash Masters is at the top of my list- but I

haven't seen one that explains how to do Actionscript for non-coders. I am

sure

the majority of Flash users are creatives encountering coding for the first

time. This can be awfully intimidating. Yet the true power of the app can

only

be explored by grasping AS.


The type of thing I am thinking of is like Flash Magic. It has a series of

carefully - note the use of the word "carefully"- designed projects that

walk

the newbie through Actionscripting from the really simple to the moderately

complex. The AS would then build in complexity- each project builds on the

techniques learned in the previous project- until the user is fairly

comfortable and knowledgeable with the nuances of the language. From newbie

to

someone who is at least able to follow the code.


This is the way we teach it at Humber and the way I approached Lingo in my

book. In fact the first kick at Lingo visibly demonstrates Lingo hierarchy.

This one, developed about four years ago, sprung out my frustration trying

to

explain to my Director classes the difference between a movie and a sprite

script. It took about six months for me to twig to the fact the questions

really weren't stupid. How can it be stupid if the student has never seen it

before? So I wrote a small handout for the students that uses a button that

kicks out an alert depending on the script type being executed. Mundane

stuff,

but important all the same and is totally lacking in AS books.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

flasher is generously supported by...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   flashforward2000 and the Flash(tm) Film Festival

 November 27-29, 2000, LONDON, National Film Theatre


   Produced by United Digital Artists and lynda.com

-Sponsored by Macromedia, Adobe Systems and Apple Computer

-http://www.flashforward2000.com  or UK tel. +44 (0870) 751 1526

       Register before November 10 and save �200

            http:// www.flashforward2000.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  To unsubscribe or change your list settings go to

http://www.chinwag.com/flasher or email

helpchinwag [dot] com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

flasher is generously supported by...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   flashforward2000 and the Flash(tm) Film Festival

 November 27-29, 2000, LONDON, National Film Theatre


   Produced by United Digital Artists and lynda.com

-Sponsored by Macromedia, Adobe Systems and Apple Computer

-http://www.flashforward2000.com  or UK tel. +44 (0870) 751 1526

       Register before November 10 and save �200

            http:// www.flashforward2000.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  To unsubscribe or change your list settings go to

http://www.chinwag.com/flasher or email

helpchinwag [dot] com